Musical Edducation
by NASCARluvr
Summary: The kids and the Eds are auditioning for the school musical, amidst the tryouts, there is uncovered a marvelous secret talent from someone least expected to bear such a talent…
1. A secret is revealed

Musical ED-ucation fan fiction

I don't own any of the rights or characters of Ed Edd n Eddy or of Cartoon Network

It was dawn of another school day in Peach Creek. Edd woke up at his usual time, 7:00 turning off his alarm as soon as it went off. Wiping the sleep from his eyes to see the sun shining through the window, he stood from his bed and went off to completing his morning routines. He made his bed, cleaned up, then lastly, he showered. While showering, Edd sang as he loved singing in the shower as it was the only place where he could truly use his gift of singing. This was something he dared not dream of having anyone know about as for one, he was too shy to bare it anyhow. He sang with all his heart, during which he heard his front door get thrown open and Ed's loud booming voice blare "Double-d, we're going to be late!!!!!"  
"Late?!?! School doesn't start for another hour," Edd said to himself in response to Ed's shouting as he got out of the shower, dried himself off, and went to use the bathroom.  
Eddy came in the front door right when he heard the toilet flush and decided to tease Double-d by telling Ed, "Hurry Ed, I think Double-d is being sucked down the evil toilet."  
"NOT TOBY THE FLESH-DEVOURING TOILET!!!! SAY IT ISN'T SO, EDDY!!!!" Ed wailed and immediately broke through the bathroom door at the top of the stairs, which right after Edd could be heard shouting, "ED!!! GET OUT!!! I'M NOT DECENT!!!"  
A moment later, Ed came stumbling back out with the door being slammed behind him. "Double-d's wearing his birthday suit, Eddy. Is it his birthday?"  
Eddy was cackling at the bottom of the stairs, laughing his ass off as usual at whatever happened to anyone but him.  
"Hey, Sockhead!!! Let's go!!!"  
Edd was already losing some patience with them as he finished up in the bathroom. He came out to greet Ed who was standing mindlessly in the middle of the hall, his eyes both going opposite ways, signaling his lack of attention to anything.  
"Eddy, you know that school doesn't start for another hour, right? Is there a reason you want to leave for school so early or is this the result of your staying up all night and not acquiring much sleep?" Edd asked as he led Ed back down the stairs.  
"Can it, Double-d, and listen," Eddy approached the other 2 Eds. "A before-school scam so that we can buy jawbreakers after school."  
"And scam all the neighborhood kids out of their lunch money? Really, Eddy! Can you sink any lower than this…said…morning swindling?"  
"It came up with it last night—"  
"For which you stayed up all night for instead of obtaining your required slumber."  
"What's sleeping ever done for me in school? My school days usually last longer than what it should be."  
"Because you and Ed need to learn the rules of behavior and conducting yourself in a manner most presentable, which neither of you know about any and it shows."  
"SCHOOL IS FOR CHUMS!!!" Ed gladly shouted aloud, causing Edd to shake his head and correct him with detest, "Chumps, Ed, is what you meant to say."  
"We're chums AND chumps, Double-d," Eddy laughed as he hugged Ed with one arm.  
"Well, honestly, Eddy, its way too early in the day to be attempting any scams," Edd said when there was suddenly a knock outside the front door. Turning towards the front door, they saw Jimmy standing there with a smile on his face.  
"Greetings, Jimmy," Edd welcomed the young boy to his house.  
"What are you doing here, Fluffy?" Eddy ignorantly asked, Jimmy ignoring him and going on to tell them the reason he was so excitedly there.  
"Wonderful news!! Did you guys hear about what's going on at school today?"  
Eddy snarked, "Did you hear about us not caring?"  
"There's auditions for a musical today at school. This traveling casting call has been going from school to school around Georgia and they are coming to our school to look for a lead actor. It's going to be so much fun, all those who want to try out or watch the auditions should come to school now."  
"Magnificent!" Edd sounded interested.  
"I'M GONNA BE A BROADWAY STAR!!!!" Ed excitedly shouted, dancing about.  
"What a spectacular opportunity and medley of performing arts, song, and dance to be presented unto the humdrum cul-de-sac. Isn't it fantastic?"  
"Yeah, if you like sissy singing and dancing," Eddy grumbled, then burst out in laughter as Jimmy protested with, "You're wrong, Eddy. Musicals are so much fun to partake in."  
"Yeah, you'd know."  
At that, Jimmy stormed off to school as did all the other kids who could be heard running for school with excitement.  
"What excitement, don't you think so, Eddy?"  
"Since when are you so into musicals? Musicals are for sissies!"  
Edd frowned. "That is not true, and musicals provide an excellent occasion for all in its premises. I'm rather interested to see what talent hides in the confines of our own cul-de-sac so I'm heading off to school." At that, Edd walked out the door.  
"What? What about my scam??" Eddy shouted after Edd who paid no heed and walked off toward the school, soon following Edd with a grudge, hand in his pockets.

The Eds were the last ones to reach school, or at least Ed and Eddy were. Edd was one of the first to be in the doors while everyone else just lagged behind. With classes not being in session, he headed right to the auditorium where within he met Jimmy and Sarah. They were sitting together near the front of the enormous room.  
"Hello, Double-d," Jimmy said when he saw Edd in the aisle.  
"Hi, Jimmy."  
"Are you going to audition?"  
Suddenly, a guy sitting in the front row turned around and said, "Welcome to all who are willing to try out, but the part we're trying to fill in is the lead male, all other parts have been filled. We just came here because with all the other schools we went to, all those who tried out didn't make the cut. Just hoping to find the right talent for the lead role here."  
"Sorry to hear about your negative luck, sir," Edd said.  
"This is the last school in the area to try," sighed the agent.

Eventually, everyone else began to file into the auditorium and take seats. Edd sat with his buddies. For the next five minutes, everyone chatted loudly. It lasted until the talent agent stood up and got everyone's attention by shouting out, "ATTENTION PEOPLE!!!"  
"Finally, order!" Edd sighed.  
"These auditions I must admit are only for guys today, the role I am trying to get filled is the male lead role to the musical, Tommy."  
Fortunately, none of the girls stormed out of the room with anger for having this feel sexist but it was only honesty.  
"Tommy," Edd was impressed, "what a wonderful visual masterpiece of song and dance. I wonder who's bound to get the role."  
"Not you, Double-Dork, HAHA!!!!" Kevin snarked back from 3 rows back, overhearing what Edd said.  
"The head-in-the-sock Ed-boy can't even out-sing my snagger-toothed grand-mama," Rolf chimed in beside Kevin.  
That was when the agent ordered they hush, which they did but only to start snickering behind the seats in front of them.  
"So let's get this underway. Who would like to be the first to audition?"  
Ed, being so mindlessly willing, shot his arms up and bellowed, "ME, COACH!!!"  
"Oh god," Edd said as Eddy and everyone else laughed while Ed, grinning ear to ear, went up onstage and said loudly with a good loud theatrical voice that was well projected to the back wall, "I LOVE CHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICKENS!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
"THANK YOU!!!" the agent stood up and urged him off the stage. "Thank you for auditioning."  
"Did I get the part?" Ed asked.  
"No, I'm sorry, you did not get the part, take a seat," the agent said and Ed trudged down the steps and up the aisle back to his seat.  
"I didn't get the part, guys," Ed told Edd and Eddy with a sad tone.  
"Good, you sounded like an air horn," Eddy remarked, after which Edd gave Eddy a dark stare.  
"Really, Eddy, you ought to support our friend for trying at the least."  
"He sucked, why support a bad attempt at something like theater?"  
Edd leaned forward to face Ed past Eddy and said, "Great attempt that was, Ed, I applaud your efforts."  
"NEXT!!!" ordered the agent.  
"Go on, Jimmy, you can do it. Show them what you are made of," Sarah was urging Jimmy to go up and try, and immediately with a grin, Jimmy walked down the aisle, anxious.  
"Ok, I'll do it, Sarah, I will try," Jimmy said as he went onto the stage. A spotlight shone down onto him and with a few coughs to clear his throat, he began to sing highly, 'Once upon a December' from the musical Anastasia. Jimmy apparently had too high of a voice for the song he was singing because the agent stood up halfway through and interrupted him with, "We are not looking for ultra-sopranos, I am sorry."  
"GEY OFF THE STAGE, FLUFFY!!! YOU SUCK!!!" Kevin shouted with a laugh from the back. Eddy and Ed joined in the laughter as Jimmy ran offstage, crying.  
"YOU IDIOTS!!!!" Sarah growled as she comforted Jimmy. "Ed, I'm telling mom you made Jimmy cry today when we get home."  
Ed didn't care, he got told on so much it was an everyday thing now.  
By now, the agent was rather frustrated. "Right, anyone else wanna give this a try?"  
Silence.  
"Anyone!"  
Silence still, until Nazz piped up from a few rows behind the Eds, "Hey, Double-D, why don't you give it a try?"  
Edd froze in anxiety when he heard her say that to him. He sweated to no end and his throat tightened so that he squeaked out a shy, "No, I-I-I don't sing."  
"C'mon, Double-Dork," Kevin teased, "let's see you screw this up, too, along with everything else you've done in life."  
That, for once, pissed Edd off to a point where he'd love to set Kevin in his place and make him suck and swallow his own words. Not even hearing the laughter, Edd got up from his seat, walked down the aisle, hardly aware of his stage-phobia problem, and he ascended up onto the stage, hearing everyone laugh at him in the audience, already thinking he was going to burn a certain song to the ground. Even the agent was skeptic on having Edd even try out.  
"Whenever you're ready, kid," the agent said as he sat back, seemingly ready to shout him off the stage.  
Edd took a deep steady breath, ignoring the laughs, and quickly thought of a decent song that he would be able to project his voice well through all the way to the back row.  
As soon as he walked onstage, something came over Edd. Something he never thought he'd feel in his life. Courage onstage. And when the spotlight hit him direct center, he felt at home like this was his calling: singing.  
The laughter continued, until Edd took a deep breath and with full force of his vocal cords, sang at his utmost efforts, "There were nights when the wind was so cold…"  
Everyone immediately shut up and became struck with freezing awe at how great he could sing. They were utterly blown away, speechless, and their spines tingled. They got goosebumps at his talented vocal ability as he stood on the stage, displaying his voice at full force. Singing this song as he did, his notes and tones echoing off the walls of the auditorium and ringing the air.  
"...I can never recall but it's all coming back to me NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
He held the note for half a minute effortlessly it seemed as his perfectly unadulterated vibrato accented the long note he bellowed from the depths of his lungs.  
Edd had an amazingly strong singing voice that stunned everyone into chilled silence. His voice gave them goose-bumps and shocked them so they all thought the same thing: who knew he had it in him?  
He ended the song with a diminishing series of notes that got softer, which brought tears to the eyes of a few of the girls and Rolf, who wept and said, "Double-D Ed-boy's voice reminds Rolf of his old country's folk singers and makes him miss them deeply."  
Once Edd was done with his audition, there was a small period of stunned silence that made Edd hesitate a little, thinking they hated it. He began to back up in an attempt to escape behind the curtain when suddenly, he heard a deafening applause of screams, whistles, and chanting with clapping going to the chants, which it was his name being chanted: "DOUBLE-D!!! DOUBLE-D!!!"  
Edd paused to see everyone he knew standing and cheering for him. This shocked him, and it felt incredible. He glanced at the audition agent, who was staring at Edd like he was dead and frozen, his mouth drooping open and he remained like so until the applause died down some and he shot to his feet so fast that he flipped the table he was sitting at onto its side with a loud THUD!  
"BLESS YOU, CHILD!!!" the agent stepped over the tipped table, crying as he yelled, "GOD HAS BLESSED YOU, MY FRIEND!!!!"  
Edd was overwhelmed, not knowing how to react to this.  
"Um, thank you, sir—"  
"No, no, do not thank me," the agent scrambled up onto the stage, shaking and crying. He hugged Edd. "You are gonna be a HIT!!! You are gonna bring full houses in all over the world, kid. You voice, it's AMAZING!!! Hear the chanting? They are chanting for YOU!"  
Edd was still unable to absorb this all in.  
"You will be THE next megastar, kid."  
Edd never dreamed of this happening to him, though he had known about his talent to sing his whole life, he was always too shy to reveal it to anyone or use it in public, which was why he overused his brainy talent in Peach Creek instead of his art of singing, to divert everyone from ever suspecting he had the voice of a Broadway superstar. Now that he has revealed his talent and everyone knows he can sing like a professional superstar, he was rather proud, and it felt good. He smiled as he looked out into the audience and saw Ed jumping around in the chairs like a happy maniac, yelling, "Double-D is Elvis, Eddy!!!!"  
He then looked at Eddy, who was happy for Edd; Edd could tell, but he also looked like he was getting ideas and Edd didn't like the thought of Eddy trying to use his talent for self-gain and profit. That was what was going to happen if he stayed in the cul-de-sac…  
"Once this musical is over, we'll hit Broadway and get you out of this rat-hole of a town!!!" sang the agent. "What do you say?"  
Edd stared at Eddy, his good but greedy friend. He didn't want to be taken advantage of by him with this talent of his, or be used for Eddy's own gaining.  
"Indeed!" Edd replied with. "I'll do it!"  
"Excellent!" the agent was so overjoyed that he began to cry some more. "Pardon me once again."  
Edd felt it was his fault he made this man cry. "I apologize, sir—"  
"Do not apologize for your talent, kid," the agent ordered. "By the way, tell me your name."  
"Um, Eddward, or Edd with two d's, but my friends call me Double-D."  
"PERFECT!!!" the agent sang again. "Double-D!!! Love it! Sounds so… EXOTIC!!!"  
"Um…thanks," Edd replied as he finally realized that it was all real.


	2. Popularity has a price

Musical Edd-ucation, Chapter 2

I do not own the rights of Ed, Edd, N Eddy

It was now nearing the end of the school day on which Edd's audition for the Peach Creek Community musical won over the heart of every student in Peach Creek Jr. High, including Kevin who had walked past Edd several times in the hall and said in a smooth voice, "Hey, what's going on, dude?"

Edd felt somewhat odd taking in all this new and positive attention from the other kids of the cul-de-sac. Even the Kankers were impressed in a way that they loved him so much that they would fall to the floor rather than chase him so that was a good plus for Edd.

Edd was standing in the hallway by his locker with Eddy and Ed now. It was the switching period before the last class of the day.

Edd was digging through his locker, getting his books for his next class. Eddy and Ed were digging in their lockers beside him as well but to get different things that didn't involve class: sling shots, wads of old papers for spitballs, pencils to play 'pencil-popper', papers for 'paper-poppers', and stink bombs.

Every 5 seconds, someone walked past them, giving Edd a comment or otherwise.

"Hey, Double-D!!!" quirked a couple of girls walking past.

"Hi, Double-D!!!" Sarah came past with Jimmy and got excited when she spotted Edd a few feet away, rummaging through his locker. "You were great!!!"

"You are _such_ an amazing singer, Double-D," Nazz commented as she walked past at one point. Edd shot upright and froze while sweat poured down his cherry-red face. He managed to at one point look back at Nazz and catch her blowing him a kiss from down the hall before she entered the classroom.

"Oh my God, it's Double-D!!! He's sooo cute and he has such a perfect voice, oh my god oh my god!!!" A crazed 'fangirl' squealed as she walked by with a couple of her girlfriends. They all saw Edd and squealed in unison before they stampeded over to him and squeezed him in the center of their huddle.

"Ladies, ladies, please, you're hurting me!!" Edd gasped for breath until they finally let go of him and continued on down the hall, giggling amongst each other.

Eddy had been watching as the girls freaked out over Edd. He had a case of envy growing within him as this continued.

"Man, Double-D, how is it that you're getting so much attention for just your _audition_ alone?" Eddy asked Edd on his newly-uncovered talent, speaking with a sense of jealousy. "And you got the _lead_ part. Of all the other people who auditioned, you were a shoo-in pretty much. If I knew that people loved singing so much as entertainment then you should've long ago told us you could sing, we could've used it as a scam and raked in tons of cash—"

"No!" Edd humorlessly affirmed. He shut his locker door and firmly turned to face Eddy. "This is exactly why I never told or proved to anyone that I have a singing talent. You would use it for personal gain once you found out that I had another more profitable talent that people would love; I personally didn't want this talent to be run dry with your exasperating scamming like my flair with brainpower, Eddy."

"So what's this you're saying?"

"I just desire to keep my singing talent from being smudged with the negative image of scamming people. It's a talent I wish to have respected, not mocked and slighted with swindling."

At that, Edd began making his way through the crowded corridor to class.

Eddy didn't reply right away. He just followed Edd with Ed dancing lively down the hall after them.

"Can you teach me to sing, Double-D?" Ed obnoxiously asked Edd as he followed Eddy and Edd down the hallway.

"Sure, Ed, we can give it a try, I suppose," Edd replied, "when I have time off…" it was then he remembered how busy this whole activity was going to make him. He'd have no more spare time to study, do his homework, or be with his friends.

As they walked, a few more groups of girls gave Edd some flirtatious waves and giggles.

"So what gonna happen between us, Double-D?" asked Eddy with noticeable irritation. "Are you not, like, gonna be around to hang with Ed and I anymore once you leave for Broadway?"

"Well I'm not leaving for Broadway _tomorrow_. I'm not leaving until after _Tommy_ has been performed."

"But you'll be busy rehearsing for _Tommy_," Eddy objected. "You won't have time for us anyway with all the rehearsals you'll have to go to."

"I can't back out of it now, Eddy." Edd rubbed his shoulder with unsure wisdom until he stopped walking for a moment. "Honestly, Eddy, I haven't a clue what's going to happen between us. I'm still trying to take in the fact that I am the lead thespian to _Tommy. _I've always loved the art of theater, but I never really had my dream goal set as becoming a Broadway actor. I always thought you had to be a known professional thespian before you made it onto Broadway. Not all this 'just audition and you're there' stuff. I got to tell you, I'm rather nervous about this. The rehearsals, the tasks required for everything scheduled to go right…it's maddening."

"Well, not having you around to think up my scams is _going_ to be maddening, Sock-head," Eddy growled. He folded his arms and leaned back against the wall like he was angry, or he was just pouting perhaps.

This made Edd a little uneasy.

Ed then came up to Edd and lazily rested his arm across Edd's shoulders. He stood silently for a moment or two, then he bellowed into Edd's ear, "No matter what happens and where you end up, Double-D, we will always be there for you, like gravy on mashed potatoes…_yum_."

"Aww, thank you, Ed," Edd showed his friend some gratitude, patting Ed's hand. "Support from friends is always a big boost of confidence."

Edd looked at Eddy, but Eddy didn't speak. He just stood there, looking the other way and ignoring the girls who walked past squealing, "Hey, Double-D, you cutie-pie."

The last hour of school was very unconventional for Edd. He was getting used to all the extra attention, but yet, it was still somewhat strange. He basically already had his own fan club made up of the cutest girls in school. Nazz was constantly staring at him from across the classroom and he'd catch her looking at him out of the corner of his eye while he was doing his work. At one point, he could've sworn that he saw her blow him a kiss but he shied away from looking to see if she did.

Throughout class, Eddy and Ed were playing pencil-popper. They had broken at least a dozen pencils before the first half of class was done. Edd would hear them tapping and then smacking the pencils together and eventually he'd hear the wood snap followed by Eddy and Ed snickering about it.

Nobody paid heed to Eddy and Ed's ignorance; they were all too mesmerized by Edd. Even the teacher gave Edd a compliment: "Eddward, your performance was unbelievable. Your voice had me in tears, young man."

Edd looked up from his paper for a second. "I apologize for your tears." Then he went back to his school work.

"No, no, Eddward. It was a compliment. Your efforts were over the top, I loved it. Could you perform for us before class ends?"

Edd looked up from his work again, stunned. "Today? _This_ class period?"

"Yeah! Why not?!"

By then, before Edd could modestly protest, everyone else in the class was urging Edd to do it: "Yeah, sing again!!!"

"C'mon, Double-D," Nazz pleaded him. "For me?"

"DO IT AGAIN, DOUBLE-D!!!" Ed obnoxiously blared like a ship's horn while he didn't pay attention and he smacked his pencil on Eddy's face and broke it on his nose.

"ED!" Eddy growled in anger and took a pencil and snapped it against the back of Ed's head. "Lumix!"

Edd saw that all unfold, keeping a straight face, not giving a single chuckle at it. "And that's why I bring pens.

"Ok, fine," Edd affirmed as he sat up in his chair and put his pen down, "but I'm only doing one verse from one song."

Everyone cheered, even though Edd's verse was only going to last for about 15 seconds.

Edd couldn't get out of this, plus, he had everyone at the tips of his fingers so he quickly thought up a short verse from a song. He ended up choosing the chorus to the song "Wind beneath my Wings".

"Did you ever know that you're my hero  
And everything I would like to be  
I can fly higher than an eagle  
Cause you are the wind beneath my wings."

As soon as he was done, the girls went nuts, making a mixed assortment of feisty squeals; the guys even whistled and applauded him as did a few people standing in the doorway who were walking past when they heard Edd's voice at work.

Ed was running around the room, laughing in his usual oafish manner. At one point, he stopped by Eddy and animatedly asked, "Isn't Double-D as good as buttered toast?"

Eddy, however, didn't answer. He ignored Ed and glared at Edd with a very jealous gaze that seemed to burn a hole in his comradeship with the new and upcoming singing/Broadway star, taking all his girls without even trying it seemed and winning the love of people he didn't even know. This enraged Eddy. He'd worked so hard to try and gain this luxury, and Edd steals it all away from him with such little effort and above it all, Edd was doubtlessly going to be _rich_. Eddy cringed.

The walk home was a rather tense walk. Ed, Edd, and Eddy walked together as usual. Edd was just getting barraged with attention as they left the school and even while they walked down the street, people spotted them from afar and shouted after Edd like he was a renowned celebrity.

"Gee, Double-D," Eddy mockingly began speaking, "you sure are getting tons of extra attention now. So, how do you like it?"

Eddy didn't sound very enthused about it and Edd noticed this in Eddy's voice. "I try not to let it get to my head so, it's pleasant, but I'm not meaning to get caught up in its tremors and put my head in the clouds over it."

"You had _Nazz_ blowing kisses at you, Double-D." Now Eddy sounded somewhat angry and jealous simultaneously. "Now you _can't_ tell me that didn't awaken your attention concerning your popularity and image: Nazz crushing on you with a public display? C'mon, Double-D!"

Ed responded to that with a loud coarse laugh while saying, "Yeah, Double-D, she likes you and she wants to kiss you and hug you and have—"

"Ed, that's enough!!! Shut up!!" shouted Eddy.

The tall boy, once he silenced, he came up to Edd and pushed his elbow into Edd's side as if to get Edd to laugh at his ripe humor. Edd only responded with tons of blushing.

"Oh dear," Edd gulped at the thought of Nazz dreaming about him that night. "What if she makes show on my doorstep tonight, Eddy?"

This gave Eddy a sudden idea: "That's why Ed and I are staying the night over at your house to aid you in case she does."

Edd wasn't truly sure if that was a good idea or if it would help in anything, but he didn't object against the idea so he replied with nothing.

When they reached Edd's house, oddly enough, there were two cars parked in his driveway. When they noticed these cars, Edd gasped, sounding as though it was something he'd never seen before. He nearly fainted.

"What's wrong?" asked Eddy.

Edd was taken aback. "My parents are…_home_!!!"

Immediately, Edd ran for the front door with Eddy and Ed chasing close behind him. Edd immediately threw the door open and at once, Eddy nearly dropped dead at what he heard from Edd's mother from inside the house.

Edd's mother was a tall woman with long dark-blonde hair. When they saw her, she was crying with joy, and she wept as she gave a proud congratulation to Edd in what sounded like French. Edd's mother didn't speak English, and oddly enough, Edd spoke French just as fluently as she did. They bantered back and forth without Eddy or Ed understanding a word they said, and what else was even stranger than this was that Edd never sounded like he had a foreign accent but speaking French as he did, he sounded like a native to France.

"Double-D is an alien?" Ed asked, scratching his head.

"No, his mother must be foreign or something," Eddy replied, irritated a little bit to hear Edd's voice in a different language, not knowing what Edd was saying. It only got worse, though. A minute later, a tall man in a suit, which had to be Edd's father with long blonde hair extended down to his lower back, briskly entered the room and began congratulating Edd in another foreign language that was _not_ French and Edd fluently responded right back in the same language.

This made Eddy mad and finally, he broke out and grabbed Edd to ask him, "Double-D, what ARE you guys SAYING?"

Speaking English again, Edd explained in his normal voice but with a somber tone in it. "They were congratulating me on getting the lead role in the musical. They apparently had heard about it at their jobs over the radio. The agent was so amazed of me that he announced it on a radio station earlier today."

"But your parents don't understand English, do they?"

"They have translators at their jobs." Edd looked back at his parents. "It's a long story, Eddy."

Eddy folded his arms again. "I have time. I'm not doing my stupid homework assignments anyway, now tell me."

"Very well then," Edd sighed as he turned back to Eddy and came outside, closing the door behind him and sitting down on the front step with Ed and Eddy. "This also is another secret that I wished to keep under wraps for as long as I could, at least from the kids of the cul-de-sac. My parents cannot speak English but they can write in English. They can't pronounce English to save their lives so they stick to their native tongues. My mother only speaks French. My father speaks Finnish because he immigrated here from Finland but when he came here, he met my mother and he loved her so much that he taught himself French to communicate with her properly, thus they have been together since. So French is only spoken in this household when they are present and it is just us as a family. That is partially why I have no siblings: the language barriers in my family are a huge problem and luckily, I was smart and astute enough to learn all three required languages quickly. Yes, I speak three languages fluently. My last name is so foreign that I have also hidden that from everyone because it looks screwed up here."

Edd took one of his textbooks out from his backpack and opened it to the front page where he had written his name. His first name was there but Eddy only saw his first name, that was, until Edd ripped off a white sticker to reveal a long Finnish surname: Ykspetäjä.

"What the _hell is that_?" Eddy asked, looking at Edd's last name.

"Yeek-spe-ta-ya. That is how you pronounce it, though I doubt you even care about it," Edd explained the pronunciation to Eddy, though it was true that Eddy didn't care. All Eddy did was crack up about it.

"Double-D has such a messed up name!!!"

Ed laughed too, saying boisterously, "Double-D is just like Rolf."

"Got that right, lumpy," Eddy laughed.

"Shut up, Eddy," Edd pleaded. "See? This is exactly why I hid my last name for as long as I've been here. I didn't want to be classified with Rolf, either, because he's of a similar nationality as I. He is Norwegian."

Once Eddy calmed down, he asked, "Double-D, how come you don't have a foreign accent like Rolf and you speak _two_ foreign languages?"

Edd sighed. "I learned French and Finnish at the same time when I was just learning to speak. All I spoke when I was younger were those two languages: French around my mom and when both of my parents and I were speaking; Finnish around my dad. I learned English right before we moved here to Peach Creek and yeah, for a while I did have a heavy mixed accent. I had an accent where some words I sounded French and others I sounded Finnish so I sounded funny for a while but I despised how I sounded when I spoke English and since everyone around me spoke English, I didn't want to become an outcast because I had a mixed foreign accent so I trained myself to fluently speak English as my prime language. I even trained away my accent, thus I no longer speak English with any kind of accent. I also taught my parents to write in English after I found out that trying to teach them to speak it was hopeless; thus explains the sticky notes all over the house. It was demanding and really truly arduous learning to speak the way I do today, but as you know, I succeeded quite well with my efforts because I _believed_ I could do it."

"Rolf has competition," Eddy snickered.

Ed was impressed. "You're a half-bred alien?"

Edd hummed with irritation, slapping his hand over his face and rubbing it down with frustration until he asked, "Anything else you want to know about me while we're at it?"

Eddy shrugged. "I'm not sure. What else are you hiding?"

Out of expectation, Edd reached up, grabbed his hat, and yanked it off to reveal what he had for so long hidden away from everyone: a head of long locks that draped down to his center back. His hair was also abnormally colored: it had been dyed jet-black while he had naturally golden-blonde roots streaming halfway down his assumed-to-be black locks. His hair color looked off considering that it was usually the other way around when someone colored their hair and had black roots halfway down their hair's length above blonde dye.

"How about my hair? Would you like to know the story about my hair, too?"

Eddy and Ed were both speechless until Ed announced, "Double-D has tentacles, Eddy."

Edd was beyond irritated now. This was the first time he'd gotten a chance to see his parents longer than 10 minutes for over a _year_ and Eddy was being a pain in the ass about it all, which pissed Edd off.

"My family does not believe in cutting hair as you can plainly see that both my parents have very long hair. I hid my hair from everyone lest they think I was weird for having long hair and adhering to my family's customs and I had it colored black because I also saw having blonde hair as a weakness considering the labels it has placed upon it within this culture. I wished to give myself a public edge: black hair under black hat with defining white stripes along the sides."

"So you tried to abandon your old culture and identity?"

Edd couldn't take it anymore. "If that's the way you wish to see it, fine. I've hidden so much from everyone for so long that now, I just see myself and ask, why did I hide who I am from the world? I am not ashamed to be me, Eddward Marian Ykspetäjä." He stood up and turned to the door, where he halted and concluded from over his shoulder, "Just promise me that you will not tell anyone about all these secrets I've told you, they are very personal to me and my family and knowing you, you'd use them for anything so let me say this once: if you use them to blackmail me, I will not only give you a thrashing but I will never speak to you again so if you value our friendship, you'd take heed in my plea. If anyone is going to reveal this stuff about me, it will be me, and they will see me as me through me and not a rumor or a lie through you." And at that, Edd opened the door, entered the house, and shut the door behind him.

A minute passed. Eddy stared at the door for that whole minute until he lastly blurted, "Fine! I have better things to do than worship your apparent stardom." And at that, Eddy walked away to his own house, leaving Ed to sit all alone on Edd's doorstep, confused and sad.

"No longer together we three be, Eddy?" Ed sobbed as he watched Eddy walk home. Ed then cried and walked off to his own house, his head hanging low with gloom, sad that his trio of friends had split apart before him only so quickly that he was left picking up the pieces.


	3. The Pact

Musical Edd 3

That night, Edd and his parents did some catching-up-on, discussing all that they as a family needed to atone for amongst each other. It lasted for a few hours, the three of them happily bantering back and forth in French until it got late and Edd wearily went up to bed.

As soon as Edd entered his room, his phone began ringing. He picked it up.

"Bonjour? Er…hello?" he accidentally said hello in French into the phone, causing the person on the other end to laugh.

"Hello, my _superstar_!!!" sang a familiar voice through the phone. "How goes it?"

"I was just about to go to bed."

"Fascinating," laughed the caller. "This is your agent, Evan Ribnikov."

Edd paused a second. "Aren't you that agent that held the auditions today at school?"

"Indeed. I am now your personal agent," he replied on the other end. "You were too amazing of a vocal talent for me to pass up, I asked some administrators from your school for your home phone so I could get hold of you ASAP. I wanted to become your agent. I would honestly have it be no one else."

"Thank you, sir," Edd said. "What of contracts? Are there contracts involved in this?"

"Ah, I almost forgot to mention that, Double-D, yes there are," said Evan. "Tomorrow, be at the Peach Creek Community Theater around 9 o'clock and we'll discuss that. And your first rehearsal is tomorrow at 10 so, indeed, tomorrow sets everything up."

"Very well then, Evan."

"I guarantee everything you could ever need and more in this transaction, Double-D."

"Sounds good, Mr. Ribnikov," Edd said with a smile, fighting back a heavy yawn.

"Okay then, I will talk to you tomorrow."

"Likewise."

Edd hung up the phone, thinking about tomorrow as he put on his pajamas, crawled into bed, and laid down, still thinking about his status in life now compared to what he was and would've still been if he'd have not auditioned that day. The thought felt nice as he drifted off to sleep.

Edd got up to his mother opening his curtains at 6 in the morning. Afterwards, she came up to his bed and said (in French), "Good morning, sweetie, breakfast is ready and your father is going to drive you to your rehearsal."

"It's okay, I can walk there," Edd replied in French. "I'd like to walk there with my friends anyway."

"Okay, whatever suits you, dear."

Edd went down to breakfast, where he had a conversation with his father (in Finnish).

"You don't have to drive me to my rehearsal, father."

"Well I thought we could spend some quality father/son time together, after all, we're only going to be able to see each other for so long."

Edd knew this was true. "I was planning on walking. You may walk there with me if you like, it will last longer and you can meet some of my friends."

"Sounds like a good idea, Edd, as long as you don't mind letting your friends meet me while none of them will understand me and I won't understand them, either."

"There is one kid who is foreign, Rolf, but he isn't Finnish, he's Norwegian."

Edd's father glanced at his watch. "Ah, well, shall we be off?" He stood up from the table and kissed his wife before saying to her in his accented French, "Edd and I are walking to the theater to spend some time together."

"That's nice, have fun," she replied in French.

Edd left after his mother kissed his forehead and wished him the best of luck. He and his father walked out the front door only to walk into Ed and Eddy who were just about to knock…or Ed was prepared to ring the doorbell a whole bunch of times again.

"Double-D!!!" Ed threw his arms into the air with joy then threw them around Edd to squeeze him. "Three again are we!!!"

"Oh, hello, dear Ed," Edd gasped through Ed's rough hug. "Nice to see you, too."

Once Ed put Edd down, Edd brushed himself off and said, "My father and I were just about to walk to the theater together."

"Father and son quality time, how sweet," Ed blurted loudly.

"Would you two care to join us?"

"Sure, why not," Eddy said as he followed Ed, Edd, and Edd's father down the driveway to the street. "I can scam some suckers by the theater I suppose."

The four, as soon as they got to the street, they were approached by the whole pack of other kids in the cul-de-sac. Kevin rode up the street with Nazz sitting on the front of his bike. Rolf ran behind them with Johnny following him, clutching Plank, while Sarah and Jimmy tagged behind them all, holding hands and giggling.

"Hey, Double-D," said Kevin as he rode up.

"Hello, Kevin," Edd said as he watched Nazz blush redder than a ripe cherry on a sundae when Kevin stopped close to Edd.

"Hi, Double-D," Sarah and Jimmy chimed as they caught up to everyone.

"Hallo, Ed-boy with the voice that of a thousand canaries," Rolf said, waving to everyone before shaking Edd's hand to say, "You are the pride of this humble little foreign patch of dirt, double-d-Ed-boy. Rolf is proud to befriend one bearing such a talent at heart…" Rolf then turned to Edd's father and held out his hand to shake hands while which he said to the tall blonde man, "Greetings, stranger, Rolf is pleased to meet you."

Edd noticed this and caught the confused and frightened look on his father's face; it was then Edd realized that he didn't understand a word that Rolf had just said to him and he was intimidated by not knowing what to do or say in return.

"Why don't you reply and shake Rolf's hand, man whom I've never seen before?"

All of the kids stared at the tall Finnish man.

"Maybe he's shy," Jimmy chimed in. "He doesn't know any of us; perhaps he has fear of strangers—"

"No!!" Edd was a tad unpleased by everyone's reactions towards his father's fear of their language being volleyed against his unbroken language barrier. Edd sighed before admitting, "Believe it or not, my father does NOT speak English, people. He speaks Finnish and French only, he knows absolutely NO English."

There was a period of silence from everyone, which this made Edd think everyone was disgusted with his father, that they were going to be angry that his father could not speak the native language of their country and treat him like he was an illegal immigrant.

Eventually, everyone started speaking up, but they sounded impressed at Edd.

"So all this time, you have been just another stranger to these lands as Rolf has?" Rolf asked him.

"Not I, but my parents are. Yes, I fluently speak French and Finnish. At a young age, I taught myself English and trained away my 'Frennish' accent and taught my parents to write in English after realizing I could not teach them English as a speaking language, thus explains my being an only child: the language barriers in my household are intense. I was lucky to be smart enough to teach myself English, which I admit was the most difficult thing I have done in my life let alone teaching away my accent from early childhood. My mother is the same way, she only speaks French."

"Whoa, three languages!!!" Jimmy was impressed. "That can be rough on one's mind."

Edd was tired of being held back. He turned to his father and said in Finnish, "Let's go, they're being very rude to us."

"I'm used to it. It's because I can't speak English, isn't it?!"

"I really don't care about the reason why they do it, I don't appreciate it."

Everyone was listening to Edd speak in this odd language they had never heard in their lives, which sounded beyond odd to them—beyond odd to hear Edd speaking in it and how fast he trilled these words baffled them beyond recognition.

"Wow, Double-D is trilingual?" Jimmy was in awe, even as Nazz was heard murmuring, "For some reason, that makes him even more attractive than he has been so far. I'd love to hear him sing in French, I'd just melt."

All the boys turned to look at her, speechless toward what she said about Edd, knowing that Edd wasn't just attracting her but every other hot girl in Peach Creek as well. Jealousy got to Eddy, but he seemed to be the only one who was jealous of Edd. Everyone else was worshipping him like a rock star. Who knew such talent would win over hearts of even foes so easily. Eddy was beyond jealous.

Everyone followed Edd at a distance, except Ed who ran awkwardly after Edd and joined him at his side just as he always did. Eddy lagged behind everyone heading to the Peach Creek Theater.

Edd, his father, and Ed walked up the large walkway leading up to stoop that inclined up to the front doors of the large building of brick and stone. It was an elaborate building on the far side of town—the Broadway of Peach Creek being the home of many great performances alike, and now, it was the house of Edd. Edd breathed in deep with pride as he looked up at the tall building while he and his father walked up the steps together.

"BIG BUILDING!!!" Ed barked loudly as he ran up the steps on his hands and feet like a dog. "BIG STAIRS!!!"

"Yes, Ed," Edd said as Ed beat them to the top of the steps. "Many steps there are to ascend."

Ed opened the heavy doors for Edd and his father and let them enter. "Enter the building as father and son you two be, little dickens's."

"Thank you, Ed," Edd said, when he heard more voices approaching from behind. He turned around to see the rest of the cul-de-sac kids parading toward the theater, following him like worshippers to the Pope. The issue he was there to take care of was rather not a public thing so Edd turned to Ed quickly and said, "Ed, listen carefully! DO NOT let ANYONE enter these doors, this issue does not need to be disrupted by anyone prying, nosy, or just wanting personal gain through it…" Edd glanced back to see Eddy following everyone to the steps. "Don't let Eddy in, either, you hear me?"

Ed just saluted like a soldier with his foot.

"Good!" Edd then entered the doors and Ed shut them and stood guard.

Edd and his father entered the elaborate building and immediately encountered Evan in the main atrium. Evan approached them, grinning ear to ear, and he clapped and rubbed his hands together then said, "Welcome, welcome, Double-D and…um…"

"Evan," Edd began when Evan stuttered while greeting his father, "this is my father."

"Ah, hello, Mr. Double-D!" Evan reached out to shake the man's hand, but he backed away from Evan. This made Edd push Evan's hand down and say, "He doesn't speak English, Mr. Ribnikov."

"Oh, I apologize. What does he speak then?"

"French and Finnish."

"And do you speak French and Finnish as well?"

"Fluently, yes I do."

This made Evan sing aloud and shake Edd's hands. "Kid, you just get better and better the more I learn about you. Would you consider singing something in either language?"

"Sure."

"WONDERFUL!" Evan was ecstatic about Edd's talents and abilities. "Come, come, you two." Evan led Edd and his father into the auditorium where the other cast members were practicing onstage. The auditorium was large with three levels of seats and many side balconies and galleries. They took a seat in the back of the bottom level of seats where it was rather dark underneath the upper level balcony except for some dim lighting along the curved wall. Evan took a clipboard from the seat nearby and handed it to Edd so he could read it.

"I would not lie to you to get you to sign something because I don't want to get you into trouble or into something you would feel trapped in. I'm no hunter, Double-D."

"That's good to hear," Edd said with a relieved voice, despite it was never something that was perturbing him. "It's all too common for people to sign without reading things."

"Indeed!"

Edd's father just sat next to Edd, silent and not knowing what the contract said as it was all in English. Eventually, he tapped Edd on his shoulder and asked in Finnish, "Can you read that to me?"

"Sure," Edd said and he read off the Finnish translation to his father while Evan listened in awe to this uncommon language Edd spoke so easily, reading the contract to his father.

Meanwhile, outside, everyone was congregating at the foot of the steps like a flock of seagulls on the beach. Ed immediately ordered, "No one is allowed to enter."

"Says who?!" Eddy marched through the pack and up the steps up to Ed, who stood his ground while Eddy climbed him and got into his face to growl, "This is a public place, Ed, you can't stop people from going in—"

Ed grabbed Eddy by his shirt collar, yanked him off his chest, and held him up to say in his face, "No! Double-D said that I shall not let anyone nosy enter as he is having a personal talk with his agent. So off with you, nosy pest!" Ed then tossed Eddy down the steps, which down he tumbled to the bottom of while Kevin laughed his ass off at Eddy's spill.

"Dorky had a great fall," Kevin cackled.

"The loud-mouth Ed-boy took a bigger spill than Rolf's big fat nana did out of Rolf's front door," Rolf laughed. "The Finnish Ed-boy must have his privacy as it is an honor to respect one's freedom of choice, like this strange land has promised us all upon our arrival. Rolf, too, shall adhere to the Finn's wishes."

"You must all wait for Double-D to come back outside," Ed shouted, making everyone but Eddy groan with disappointment. "I am his bodyguard."

"Does he pay you?" asked Eddy with an ignorant tone, which made Ed stare and say, "He is my friend as he is yours, Eddy. We protect friends…my mommy told me that when I was still in diapers."

That was enough to get laughter out of everyone. A laughter-storm distracting enough for Eddy to sneak around the building to find another entrance in the back. He snuck in, went up some stairs and down a hallway, through a door, and down several more corridors until he found the entrance to the auditorium. He opened the door to see down on the stage thespians rehearsing their songs and practicing the score of _Tommy_. Many of them superb at best, just like Edd, like these were his people.

Speaking of Edd: Eddy suddenly heard Edd's voice off to his left, which he panicked and shut the door to only a crack big enough for him to hear what Edd was saying. Unluckily, though, Edd was speaking in Finnish so he didn't understand what he was saying. Frustration boiling within, Eddy kept listening until he heard English being spoken again.

"So, what pay rate would this involve?" Edd suddenly asked. This seized Eddy's attention right away and he listened closer until he heard Evan reply with, "It will vary depending upon your performance but seeing as how excellent of a performer you appear to already be, it will be a pretty decent pay. Enough to get you out of this dump and onto Broadway _next month_."

"I don't know how easy it will be to leave Peach Creek."

"Talk it over with your friends and get their insights, opinions, do whatever you need to do, but next month is it, kid. This contract will take you places from L.A. to Finland and back again. Perform for your people in Finland, how does that sound?"

"Sounds splendid, sir! I have always wished to see my lands of origin."

"Excellent!" Evan stood up and shook Edd's hand while Edd said in Finnish to his father, "We're going back to Finland!"

His father jumped up and hugged Edd, replying with an enthused attitude in Finnish. "Wonderful, you will finally get to see your homeland as will your mother."

"Yes!" Edd replied in Finnish, then in English, saying, "I can't believe I'm going to Finland."

Eddy was rather stunned. Edd wanted to leave the country…with good salary…without him! Enraged, Eddy walked off to the front door and kicked it open, hitting Ed so that he fell down the steps just as he had made him do so earlier.

"Hey, dorky, what's the big idea?" Kevin growled when Eddy came out. "He snuck into the building."

"Rolf will ground the puny Ed-boy in his meat-churner for snooping in Double-D Ed-boy's trade," Rolf fumed as he pushed his sleeve up his arm.

"EDDY!" Ed barked in anger at Eddy when he stood up. "Remember what Double-D told me?"

"Double-D isn't going to be around here long enough to care if we get in his business, guys."

"Why?" Nazz asked innocently.

"He's leaving Peach Creek and going back to Finland after Broadway!"

"WHAT?!"

Sorry, I am running out of ideas for this fanfic and am getting busy with other things such as a huge novel series I been working on for 6 years. I apologize for those of you who have waited eagerly for me to post this chapter or any other chapters but I have not been working on this hardly as much and my ideas are limited. I don't want to make this much longer so I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up.


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